Apple Not Serious About Sirius [the reason why]
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Victor Healey
May 28, 2005, 3:13:59 AM5/28/05
to XM_Radio, Xmsatradio
Apple Not Serious About Sirius
By David Worthington, BetaNews
May 27, 2005, 3:28 PM
Sirius is refusing to confirm reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has
taken a fancy to the idea of partnering with the satellite radio
provider. On Thursday, reports circulated around the Web claiming Mel
Karmazin, Sirius chief executive officer, had discussions with Jobs
during the D conference in California.
However, Sirius has told BetaNews that Jobs has not expressed any
concrete interest thus far.
Apparently this is not the first time Karmazin has attempted to entice
Jobs with the idea of pairing satellite radio with Apple's iPod
portable music player. In February, MarketWatch published a report
stating that Karmazin approached Apple for discussions, but was met
with the same result.
Jobs is said to be waiting for compelling content that would justify
the development of a hybrid product.
"Mel only said that he had talked to Steve about this and met him
recently at the D conference hosted by Walt Mossberg in San Diego. He
has not specified any interest from Steve at this point. Just talking.
But, yes...we are interested in making our unique programming
available over other devices, and are talking to a number of companies
about that possibility," a Sirius spokesperson told BetaNews.
"If you look at iPod Shuffle, success comes from offering less, such
as nixing FM radios found on other devices. If iPod sells well without
the added complexity of terrestrial FM radio, why would Apple want to
further complicate matters with subscription-based satellite radio?"
commented Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox.
According to press reports, a sticking point with getting device
manufacturers to adopt Sirius is said to be how the companies will
split the earnings from the service's monthly subscription fee.
"To date, Apple has shown little interest in subscription content for
iPod, favoring music people buy. If Apple were ever to do
subscriptions, a service complimenting iTunes purchased downloads
would make more sense than a third-party service the company couldn't
control. The iTunes Music Store has a definite music director's touch
and a cool allure complimenting iPod. Apple control is part of the
magic recipe," Wilcox added.
Sirius refused to elaborate any further.
By David Worthington, BetaNews
May 27, 2005, 3:28 PM
Sirius is refusing to confirm reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has
taken a fancy to the idea of partnering with the satellite radio
provider. On Thursday, reports circulated around the Web claiming Mel
Karmazin, Sirius chief executive officer, had discussions with Jobs
during the D conference in California.
However, Sirius has told BetaNews that Jobs has not expressed any
concrete interest thus far.
Apparently this is not the first time Karmazin has attempted to entice
Jobs with the idea of pairing satellite radio with Apple's iPod
portable music player. In February, MarketWatch published a report
stating that Karmazin approached Apple for discussions, but was met
with the same result.
Jobs is said to be waiting for compelling content that would justify
the development of a hybrid product.
"Mel only said that he had talked to Steve about this and met him
recently at the D conference hosted by Walt Mossberg in San Diego. He
has not specified any interest from Steve at this point. Just talking.
But, yes...we are interested in making our unique programming
available over other devices, and are talking to a number of companies
about that possibility," a Sirius spokesperson told BetaNews.
"If you look at iPod Shuffle, success comes from offering less, such
as nixing FM radios found on other devices. If iPod sells well without
the added complexity of terrestrial FM radio, why would Apple want to
further complicate matters with subscription-based satellite radio?"
commented Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox.
According to press reports, a sticking point with getting device
manufacturers to adopt Sirius is said to be how the companies will
split the earnings from the service's monthly subscription fee.
"To date, Apple has shown little interest in subscription content for
iPod, favoring music people buy. If Apple were ever to do
subscriptions, a service complimenting iTunes purchased downloads
would make more sense than a third-party service the company couldn't
control. The iTunes Music Store has a definite music director's touch
and a cool allure complimenting iPod. Apple control is part of the
magic recipe," Wilcox added.
Sirius refused to elaborate any further.
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